WASHINGTON — A Texas lawmaker on the House intelligence committee says it wasn't just the Russians who interfered in last year's election.

Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Midland, is comparing the use of Mexican entertainers to energize Democratic voters to the email hacking that officials say was orchestrated by Vladimir Putin's government.

“Harry Reid and the Democrats brought in Mexican soap opera stars, singers and entertainers who had immense influence in those communities into Las Vegas, to entertain, get out the vote and so forth,” Conaway told The Dallas Morning News this week. “Those are foreign actors, foreign people, influencing the vote in Nevada. You don’t hear the Democrats screaming and saying one word about that.”

Asked whether he considers that on par with Russian cyber-intrusions that aimed to damage Hillary Clinton’s campaign, Conaway said: “Sure it is, it’s foreign influence. If we’re worried about foreign influence, let’s have the whole story.”

Vicente Fernández, a famous Mexican singer and entertainer, recorded a song during the campaign supporting Clinton. After the third presidential debate, Fernández joined California-based band Los Tigres del Norte and American-born Mexican actress Angélica María at a post-debate “fiesta” in Las Vegas.

Clinton came to the event and thanked Fernández backstage for his song, noting that it had gone viral online. Democratic Senate candidate Catherine Cortez Masto, who won the race to replace Reid, also attended the event.

“It worked really well in Nevada, as you see,” Conaway said, pointing out that Democrats performed strongly in the state on Election Day. “Those folks are monster in the Hispanic community. They hold great sway.”

Texas Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro, a fellow member of the House intelligence panel and vice chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, laughed when told of Conaway's comments and said he assumes Conaway must have been joking.

Cortez Masto, who became the nation's first Latina senator when she was sworn in this month, responded to Conaway's claim in a tweet late Thursday, describing it as "a pathetic and offensive attempt to try to diminish the consensus that Russia meddled in the 2016 election to boost Donald Trump."

This is a pathetic and offensive attempt to try to diminish the consensus that Russia meddled in the 2016 election to boost Donald Trump. https://t.co/XEVmmLatBD

"Really?" said Rep. Luis Gutiérrez, D-Ill., with a quizzical look when told about Conaway's claims.

Gutierrez noted that Republican candidates often pay to run campaign commercials on the same radio stations that play songs from Hispanic musicians because they want to connect with those communities. And if Mexican singers are an example of foreign influence, Gutierrez asks, what about Trump's joint news conference with the Mexican president in the middle of the campaign?

"If you want to offend and demean the fastest-growing population in the United States, keep it up," Gutierrez said.

New York Rep. Peter King, another Republican member of the intelligence committee, appeared wary of Conaway's comparison.

“It’s not illegal, but it can be an issue,” King said. “But I’m not equating it. What the Russians did was wrong, I’ll just leave it at that.”

Instead, King focused his ire on the anonymous release of three pages of Trump’s 1995 tax returns to TheNew York Times, which he said “was also wrong and illegal” and could have had more of an impact on the election than Russia.

Intelligence officials have made clear Russia didn't tamper with voting machines or tabulations, but they alleged that the Kremlin launched a multifaceted campaign that included hacking into the Democratic National Committee and spreading "fake news" to undermine Clinton.

Conaway does not dispute that Russia was behind the hacks into the DNC and that they were conducted to discredit the Clinton campaign. But he argued that while the hacks were improper, it should be noted that the damning emails released were not doctored or fabricated.

“You can be offended by the way it got into the court of public opinion, but it’s true,” Conaway said.

As a former chairman of the House ethics committee, Conaway said he is always careful about what he includes in emails or texts because he knows they could be taken out of context in court or in news reports.

“None of us want our personal emails out there because I’m sure everybody has something in there that you’d rather not the general public know about,” he said.